[duxuser] PDF Files
- From: "Susan Jolly" <easjolly@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2005 21:26:49 -0700
I certainly understand the frustration with PDF files. But one thing to
bear in mind is that a PDF file is an output format, just as a printed page
is an output format. PDF files were originally designed as an end product,
not as source files to be converted into some other format.
As Jamal Mazui's article in AccessWorld makes clear, standard PDF files that
are "formatted text and graphics" are typically produced from electronic
files that have originally been created in other applications such as
Microsoft Word.
Adobe is to be commended for attempting to devise the many new strategies
for making PDF files more accessible that are described in Mazui's article.
However, it seems to me that in many cases a better solution for producing
braille or some other accessible format would be to start with the original
electronic file rather than the generated PDF file. Of course, this
approach would require the author be willing and available to supply the
original file.
There are cases where the author is unwilling to supply the original file in
order to protect a copyright or for other reasons. However, my guess is
that there are many cases where an author who has made a PDF file available
for download from the Internet would have been comfortable also posting the
original electronic file had they realized that it might be more useful to
some readers.
SusanJ
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